How To Do A Burpee And The Benefits of Burpees For Fat Loss

The first time you do a burpee you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Although it’s renowned as a brutal bodyweight exercise that burns fat as fast as it builds muscle, and is regularly used as punishment for skipping obstacles in obstacle course races, none of that tallies with how you feel after performing one burpee.

Don’t let that deter you. Do a second burpee, and then a third. Keep going and 30 seconds later you’ll be wondering how it’s possible for so many muscles to be aching and your lungs to be burning at the same time.
There is no fun way to do burpees. Whether you take them slow and hit a certain rep count, or try to cram in as many as possible within a set time period, they knacker you out faster than just about any other exercise out there. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that all that effort is absolutely worth it. The burpee works your arms, back, chest, core, glutes and legs – you name it, it works it. And burpees also spike your heart rate as much as sprinting for a bus does – one reason it’s a firm favourite among the high-intensity interval training (HIIT)crowd. And all of those benefits come without the use of any equipment, so you can do the burpee anytime and anywhere.

Benefits of Burpees
Doing burpees is a full-body workout in every sense. They build strength and endurance, raise your heart rate and burn bundles of calories, while also testing your balance and co-ordination.
The variety of movements involved and muscles worked means the benefits of burpees will be obvious in your daily life, as every physical challenge becomes that little bit easier to conquer.

And they can be done anywhere (even at home if you have understanding neighbours downstairs). You don’t need any kit, just a shedload of heart and grit to power through each rep.

How To Do A Burpee

The classic burpee is a four-point move. From a standing position, drop into a squat with your hands on the ground just in front of your feet. Then kick your feet back behind you, keeping your arms extended so you are in a raised plankposition. At this stage, the more adventurous can throw a press-up into the mix, which really ramps up the difficulty.

In the basic burpee, you remain in the raised plank and jump your feet back towards your hands. Then round off the manoeuvre by leaping into the air with your arms straight above you. Then do it all again.

Burpee Form Tips
“There is a lot going on when you do a burpee,” says trainer Dan Baldwin of Six3Nine. “This means there’s the potential to make the burpee harder and reduce the amount you can do, which means you’re wasting energy and reducing the exercise’s effectiveness.” Follow this five-point form guide to perfect the burpee and reap the worthwhile rewards, then use these tips when taking on the ruthlessly efficient burpee workout we’ve devised below.

* Mobilise: “The burpee can put a lot of stress through your ankles, knees and wrists,” says Baldwin. “Make sure you’re thoroughly warmed up and you’ve done some mobility work, including press-ups, lungesand squats, to loosen up the joints.”
* Break it up: “The burpee can be complex so to start with, split the move into two parts: a squat thrustand a deep squat jump. Make sure you are comfortable with each phase of the exercise before combining the two.”
* Squat thrust: “For the squat thrust make sure your shoulders are directly over your hands, and your legs are extended into a press-up position. When jumping your feet in and out, keep your shoulders above your hands – don’t let them move backwards or forwards.”
* Deep squat jump: “For the deep squat make sure your hips are sitting back and try to keep your chest as upright as possible. Explode up and ensure you cushion your landing by bending the knees as you make contact with the floor.”
* Get some air time: “Once you’re happy you can perform both with good form, add the two together. Your arms can play a part here and as you transition from the squat thrust to the squat jump, swing your arms forwards and above your head for maximum height.”

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Skipping steps

As you begin to tire, it’s a common impulse to want to skip certain steps in order to make the burpee easier. Don’t beat yourself up about it, we’ve all been there but remember what your school teachers told you – you’re only cheating yourself. Applying the correct level of intensity to the burpee at all times ensures you reap all the heart-healthy, muscle-boosting benefits. If you begin to falter, rest briefly then go again.

Contract your core

The plank stage of the burpee is pivotal to ensuring your abdominals get sufficient stimulation. Ensure your shoulders are parallel to your wrists, keep your core contracted and engaged and your back straight, neutrally aligned with your glutes. Many make the mistake of arching their back, negating the positive effects the burpee has on the abs, while also risking injury.

Reps for days

As is the case with virtually every other exercise, doing more reps for the sake of it does not directly correspond to a successful workout. Focus on nailing the correct technique as explained above first, and this will help you to progress more smoothly.
Four Burpee Workouts
Burpees can be incorporated into circuit training, used to warm up before other exercises or done over and over again to act as your entire workout.

100 burpee challenge

The 100 burpee challenge is a good way to approach the latter: just do 100 as quickly as you can. The first 15 shouldn’t take much over a minute, but the rest will take a lot longer. Any time under ten minutes for the full 100 is pretty darn impressive.
The burpee ladder
The burpee ladder is another way to build a workout around this king of all exercises. Start with ten burpees, have a quick rest, then do nine, eight and so on. If you’re feeling brave, do burpees, press-ups and sit-ups on every rung. It’s a weird feeling to view sit-ups as a welcome break.
Max out
This dynamic workout will build up your tolerance to the lactic acid inevitably flooding your legs and help increase your anaerobic performance for a fitness boost with a large scoop of fat-burning benefits.
First, find out your maximum set by doing as many burpees as you can before having to stop. Reduce that number slightly, and perform three sets with a 30-second rest between. For example, if your maximum set is 20, rest for 30 seconds then do 15 for your working set, rest another 30 seconds, then repeat a further two times. Now breathe, hard.

30-day burpee challenge

A one off not enough? Then try our 30-day burpee challenge. The beauty of this training plan is that it’s scaleable – it’s based on your current fitness level, established by the test on day one.

Best Burpee Variations

Select your burpee punishment for the above workout from the five devilish options below, ranked in order of malevolence

Burpee
Evil rating: strict parent
From standing, drop and place your hands on the floor outside your feet. Jump your feet back so you’re in the top of a press-up position, then back to between your hands. Jump up, clapping your hands overhead.
Target: cardio, quads

Burpee broad jump
Evil rating: school bully
From standing, drop and place your hands on the floor outside your feet. Jump your feet back so you’re in the top of a press-up position, then back to between your hands. Powerfully jump forwards as far as you can, swinging your arms by your side for momentum. Land and continue straight into the next rep.
Target: cardio, quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes
Burpee pull-up
Evil rating: psycho boss
Stand under a pull-up bar. Drop your hands to the floor, jump your feet back so you’re in the top of a press-up and back to your hands, then jump up to the bar and perform a pull-up. When your chin is above your hands, you’ve completed one rep.
Target: cardio, quads, back

Burpee renegade row
Evil rating: sadistic despot

Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand by your side. Drop and place the dumbbells on the floor outside your feet. Keep holding them as you jump your feet back so you’re in the top of a press-up position. Brace your core to keep your hips static and row one dumbbell up towards your armpit on one side and back to the floor, then the other. Jump your feet back to between your hands and, holding the dumbbells, drive up through your heels to jump off the floor with the weights by your sides.